Giant arcade to get hearing in Brockton

Saturday

Jun 28, 2008 at 12:01 AMJun 28, 2008 at 7:30 AM

Elaine Allegrini

A Good Time Emporium could be a boon to the city or a magnet for troublemakers, depending on which business leader you talk to.

Former Mayor John T. Yunits Jr., who is now president of Brockton Rox baseball, said he “can’t see anything negative” about the sprawling entertainment center that could come to the Westgate Mall area.

“It’s going to help Brockton become a city of fun,” said Yunits.

But Harry Minassian, owner of the Westgate Lanes bowling and pool table business, fears that Good Time Emporium with its hundreds of arcade games, go-karts, pool tables, sports bars and live entertainment, would draw more youths to the mall area.

“I think it’s a bad thing,” said Minassian, whose business is on the opposite side of the mall. “That should be way out of town, it shouldn’t be close to the mall. South Shore Plaza (in Braintree) wouldn’t want it.”

Billed as a “family fun center,” Good Time is preparing to buy and renovate a 300,000-square-foot building on Campanelli Drive at the Oak Street entrance to Westgate Mall.

The establishment, relocating from Somerville, would accommodate up to 2,390 people in a setting that also would offer laser tag and other entertainment and function rooms.

The Zoning Board of Appeals is set to hear the proposal on July 8. City councilors from wards 1 and 7 have set a community meeting for July 10 to meet the proponents.

Brockton has an ordinance limiting video or arcade games to 35 per site. Good Time is seeking a variance to bring in 300 or more, according to attorney John McCluskey, who represents owner Daniel Hayes.

Minassian, who has been in business at Westgate Lanes since 1959, said he will have his attorney speak against the proposal when it goes before the Zoning Board of Appeals.

George McLean, retired Somerville police chief, said recently that the Good Time security staff in Somerville generally kept things in hand inside the facility. But there were problems outside when patrons left, including car thefts and break-ins — and more serious incidents.

Brockton leaders are reviewing security plans for the business, hoping to minimize demands on the Police Department and the area.

“Hopefully, it will enhance this whole area,” said Luciano Villani, manager of Westgate Mall.

The location off Oak Street would not appear to pose problems with nearby D.W. Field Park, said Patricia Houle, president of the D.W. Field Park Association. She said her only concern is that alcoholic beverages would be served in such a large setting.

Yunits said new businesses and the jobs and tax revenue they bring are good for Brockton. Good Time, he said, is especially good because it would bring lots of people to the city and when more people come, the city gets more business.

Yunits said Good Time would be the “best and highest” use of the vacant warehouse and it would complement the nearby mall, hotels and even the Rox, though it is in a sense competitive.

“The hotels see this as great,” he said. “It’s another thing parents can bring the kids to. We have ball games, the movie theater is being built and now Good Time.”

A National Amusements megaplex is planned for the former Macy’s space in the mall. Macy’s moved to the former Filene’s store.

Yunits said the concerns of traffic and security are issues that any business deals with and can be resolved.

A major concern is the condition of Campanelli Drive, which is a privately owned road.

MacMillan, the ward councilor, said he wants the road improved to accommodate the additional traffic. That would benefit the entire area, said mall manager Villani.